Featured Research

Astronauts Verify Restoration Of Electrical Power On Mir And Prepare For External Space Walk

Date:

August 26, 1997

Source:

National Aeronautics And Space Administration

Summary:

Aboard the Mir Space Station, Mir 24 Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Mike Foale began the process of verifying the restoration of electrical power from the solar arrays of the Spektr module yesterday (Aug. 25) at the same time they began final preparations for an external spacewalk next week.

Related Articles

Aboard the Mir Space Station, Mir 24 Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Mike Foale began the process of verifying the restoration of electrical power from the solar arrays of the Spektr module today at the same time they began final preparations for an external spacewalk next week.

Solovyev and Vinogradov told Russian flight controllers that a test of the connectors mated to a special “hermaplate” on Spektr’s hatch showed voltage from the arrays running through the connectors, which were attached last Friday during an internal spacewalk inside Spektr. And, ground controllers acknowledged that an additional 40 amps of electricity were flowing into the Kvant-2 module following the hookup of an adapter cable to route newly found power from the Spektr through the Kristall module into Kvant-2. But commands sent to the solar arrays to try to slew, or move them into a better orientation to face the sun, were not successful. The cosmonauts and ground controllers are assessing possible options to try to recover the pointing capability of the arrays. One of the 11 power cables mated to the hermaplate on Friday was designed to reestablish pointing capability of the arrays. It could take a few days before it known for certain how much power was recovered from the internal spacewalk operation.

Current plans call for continuing work to power up the Kvant-2 module, followed by the Kristall module, then for the cosmonauts to direct electricity to the Priroda module. Video shot last Friday by Vinogradov of the interior of Spektr during the internal spacewalk is not expected to be downlinked until Wednesday at the earliest.

The cosmonauts also spent part of their day trying to troubleshoot a problem with the device in which oxygen-generating candles are burned in Kvant-1 to produce oxygen for the Mir as a backup system. It has been used for the past several days to generate oxygen while the Elektron unit in Kvant-1 has been shut down to conserve power. Russian flight controllers ordered the cosmonauts to reactivate the Elektron in Kvant-1 even though it has been running a little warmer than desired, but after turning the system on, it shut itself down. This is not an uncommon occurrence when an Elektron unit is reactivated after having been shut off. Further analysis by Russian flight controllers continues. The Elektron may ultimately be reseated on its cold plate fixture in Kvant-1 to improve cooling for the unit. In the meantime, the cosmonauts are expected to conduct a maintenance procedure to replace parts in the solid-fuel oxygen candle burning device so it can be used again as a backup.

In addition, Solovyev and Foale reviewed flight data file documents for an upcoming external spacewalk sometime during the first week of September. The spacewalk is designed to conduct a detailed inspection of possible leak sites on Spektr as the result of the June 25 collision of a Progress resupply ship and the Mir. Foale has been approved for on-orbit training for the spacewalk, but NASA officials have not yet given him the green light to proceed with the spacewalk itself. A final go-no go decision will be made at a joint readiness review between Russian and U.S. officials early next week.

Foale has begun the 15th week of his long duration mission aboard the Mir. He is due to be replaced by U.S. astronaut Dave Wolf in late September. Wolf will be launched aboard Atlantis on the STS-86 mission, the seventh flight to dock with Mir.

National Aeronautics And Space Administration. "Astronauts Verify Restoration Of Electrical Power On Mir And Prepare For External Space Walk." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 August 1997. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/08/970826040940.htm>.

National Aeronautics And Space Administration. (1997, August 26). Astronauts Verify Restoration Of Electrical Power On Mir And Prepare For External Space Walk. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/08/970826040940.htm

National Aeronautics And Space Administration. "Astronauts Verify Restoration Of Electrical Power On Mir And Prepare For External Space Walk." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/08/970826040940.htm (accessed March 3, 2015).

More From ScienceDaily

More Space & Time News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015 — Meteorologists sometimes struggle to accurately predict the weather here on Earth, but now we can find out how cloudy it is on planets outside our solar system, thanks to new ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Recent research contributes to the effort to determine the nature of dark matter, one of the most important mysteries in physics. As indirect evidence provided by its gravitational effects, dark ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — Dust plays an extremely important role in the universe -- both in the formation of planets and new stars. But the earliest galaxies had no dust, only gas. Now an international team of astronomers has ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will be the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — An international team of researchers has demonstrated a way to assess the quality of water on Earth from space by using satellite technology that can visualize pollution levels otherwise invisible to ... full story

Feb. 27, 2015 — A new type of methane-based, oxygen-free life form that can metabolize and reproduce similar to life on Earth has been modeled. It is theorized to have a cell membrane, composed of small organic ... full story

Feb. 27, 2015 — Astronomers using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, have found a cluster of stars forming at the very edge of our Milky Way galaxy. This is the first time astronomers ... full story

Feb. 26, 2015 — If you put a camera in the ice machine and watched water turn into ice, the process would look simple. But the mechanism behind liquids turning to solids is actually quite complex, and understanding ... full story

Feb. 26, 2015 — Like a cowboy at a rodeo, NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), has triumphantly raised its "arm" and unfurled a huge golden "lasso" (antenna) that it will ... full story

NASA EDGE: SMAP Launch

NASA (Mar. 2, 2015) — Join NASA EDGE as they cover the launch of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) spacecraft live from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Special guests include NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, SMAP Project System Engineer Shawn Goodman and Lt Col Brande Walton and Joseph Sims from the Air Force. No word on the Co-Host&apos;s whereabouts.
Video provided by NASA

Related Stories

Aug. 16, 2014 — Orbital Sciences Cygnus commercial cargo craft completed a month-long delivery mission to the International Space Station Friday when it was released from the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm at ... full story

Apr. 18, 2014 — The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon spacecraft loaded with nearly 2.5 tons of supplies and experiment hardware for the International Space Station's Expedition 39 crew, lifted off at ... full story

Apr. 15, 2014 — Monday's launch attempt of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station's Expedition 39 crew, was scrubbed due to a helium ... full story

Feb. 25, 2013 — The second International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services flight by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is set for liftoff at 10:10 a.m. EST on March 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 at ... full story

July 21, 2011 — Wrapping up 30 years of unmatched achievements and blazing a trail for the next era of U.S. human spaceflight, NASA's storied Space Shuttle Program came to a "wheels stop" on Thursday ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.